Today we’ll finish up our look at the eight words we find in Psalm 119 that help open up the inexhaustible riches of God’s words to us. Our God is amazing in his generous creativity. He didn’t just give us one kind of food to eat: we get to experience the joy of flavors and textures, from dark chocolate and sourdough bread to raspberries and fish tacos. In the same way, he speaks to us in so many ways, we need at least eight different words to grasp the delightful wisdom of our speaking God.
Commandments
Author Derek Kidner comments, “This word emphasizes the straight authority of what is said; not merely the power to convince or persuade, but the right to give orders.”[1] David Powlison explains that God’s commandments tell us “how to live, what to do, how to love and trust. Because God’s words come with authority, they all have the character of a command even when God promises mercy, reveals his character, or tells a story of what he did: you must believe it and live out the implications. Every alternative is some species of self-deception and destruction.”[2]
Precepts
Kidner defines precepts as follows:
“This is a word drawn from the sphere of an officer or overseer, a man who is responsible to look closely into a situation and take action (cf. Jer. 23:2, where with will ‘attend to’ the shepherds who have not ‘attended to’ the flock.) So the word points to the particular instructions of the Lord, as one who cares about detail.”[3]
The Words Quiz
Can you match up these words we’ve been studying with the correct definition (and without peeking at those definitions just above!)? The answers are at the bottom of the post.
| Word | Definition |
| 1. Testimonies | A. A general term embracing all the truth that God speaks in any form: promises, stories, or commands. |
| 2. Statutes | B. The Scriptures are God’s testimony about his saving acts and his people’s obligations. |
| 3. Rules | C. The chief of all these terms. God’s truth, given for the purpose of instruction that leads to obedience. |
| 4. Law | D. What God pledges to do (cf. vv. 41, 50). |
| 5. Commandments | E. God has the authority to tell his creatures what to do, and these are his instructions. |
| 6. Word | F. God’s detailed and caring instructions to his people for their care and growth. |
| 7. Promise | G. The binding force of Scripture. From the word “to engrave,” like the 10 commandments, the permanent and forever Words of God. |
| 8. Precepts | H. Also judgments, ordinances, or decrees. God’s righteous decisions about common human situations. |
*In case you missed it, you can read part 1 and part 2 of these definitions.
[1] Derek Kidner, Psalm 73-150, p. 454.
[2] David Powlison, Suffering and Psalm 119, in Speaking Truth in Love, p. 21.
[3] Kidner, p. 453.
Answers: B, G, H C, E, A, D, F